Wolves, Anderson agree to part ways

The Chicago Wolves and head coach John Anderson mutually have agreed to conclude their long-running partnership, Wolves general manager Wendell Young announced Thursday.

Anderson served as the franchise’s head coach for 14 of its 22 seasons during two stints with the organization. He directed the Wolves to four championships — the 1998 and 2000 Turner Cups in the International Hockey League and the 2002 and 2008 Calder Cups in the American Hockey League — as well as two additional appearances in the finals.

The 59-year-old Toronto-native produced a 624-368-24-100 record (.615) during regular-season play, which included 424 wins in 10 AHL seasons and 200 wins in four IHL seasons. He also registered a 110-69 mark (.615) in 12 trips to the postseason.

“The Wolves organization will forever be indebted to John for all of the championships and wins,” said Wolves chairman Don Levin. “Right from his first year with the team, when we won our first championship, he set high standards and expectations for our players and his personality and coaching style made hockey fun for our fans. We will always consider him part of the Wolves family.”

The search has begun to assemble the Wolves’ 2016-17 coaching staff. Mark Hardy and Brad Tapper, who served as the team’s assistant coaches for the last two years, will not return to the organization.